Famous waterfront restaurant property sold for $5M

A true piece of “Old Florida,” the Linger Lodge & Campground in east Manatee County — with a menu that includes gator nuggets and frog legs — has a new owner.

An Austrian real estate group under the name River Loft LLC acquired The Linger Lodge RV LLC and the Linger Lodge Restaurant LLC, according to a press statement released late Friday. River Loft bought the property, a restaurant and RV park along the Braden River that dates back to the 1940s, from area real estate developer Marvin Kaplan and former Bradenton State Sen. Mike Bennett, now Manatee County supervisor of elections.

River Loft paid a little less than $5 million for the RV side and the restaurant side, says Rudi Weiss, an agent with Charity & Weiss International Realty who represented the seller. The property totals about 30 acres.